There are animal rescue groups, and then there is Rescue Ink: a group of men from disparate backgrounds who share a love of elaborate tattoos, loud motorcycles and animals. They have big muscles, but even bigger hearts; their mission is to rescue as many abused and neglected animals as possible.
The men bonded in 2007 over a local Long Island, New York story about a pit bull named Maximus who was tied to a tree, doused with gasoline and set on fire. Maximus died, but Rescue Ink was born.
"We want [animal abusers] to know that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated anymore," one of the group's leaders, Joseph "Joe" Panzarella, tells Paw Nation, his dark eyes intense. (That's Joe in the photo, above, foreground, left side.)
In addition to Joe, there's Anthony "Big Ant" Rossano, Angel Nieves, Johnny O, George "G" Perry, Eric Olsen, and Nicholas Richard "Batso" Maccharoli Sr., who, at 76, is the most senior of the group. Batso and Angel are retired, but the rest have days jobs -- working in the mortgage industry, landscaping, security, or customizing cars and motorcycles. Still, they carry out their rescue missions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, investigating animal cruelty calls they get from all over the New York metropolitan area.
Mary Felto, who works in Rescue Ink's home office, tells Paw Nation that she fields up to 150 - 200 calls and emails per day.
The men bonded in 2007 over a local Long Island, New York story about a pit bull named Maximus who was tied to a tree, doused with gasoline and set on fire. Maximus died, but Rescue Ink was born.
"We want [animal abusers] to know that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated anymore," one of the group's leaders, Joseph "Joe" Panzarella, tells Paw Nation, his dark eyes intense. (That's Joe in the photo, above, foreground, left side.)
In addition to Joe, there's Anthony "Big Ant" Rossano, Angel Nieves, Johnny O, George "G" Perry, Eric Olsen, and Nicholas Richard "Batso" Maccharoli Sr., who, at 76, is the most senior of the group. Batso and Angel are retired, but the rest have days jobs -- working in the mortgage industry, landscaping, security, or customizing cars and motorcycles. Still, they carry out their rescue missions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, investigating animal cruelty calls they get from all over the New York metropolitan area.
Mary Felto, who works in Rescue Ink's home office, tells Paw Nation that she fields up to 150 - 200 calls and emails per day.
"[Unlike city animal rescue organizations], we don't leave at five o'clock," Big Ant tells Paw Nation. "We'll stay there and wait for the [alleged animal abuser] to come home or until the we know a dog is okay. One time, we sat on the steps of a house and ordered pizza." (That's a visual worth conjuring -- somebody coming home to find the members of Rescue Ink on their doorstep.) En masse, they don't look so much like animal rescuers as guys attending "a Sopranos casting call at a Harley-Davidson dealership," writes Denise Flaim, who co-authored a book with the men, entitled Rescue Ink: How Ten Guys Saved Countless Dogs and Cats, Twelve Horses, Five Pigs, One Duck, and a Few Turtles.
"They're the last people you would expect to be animal rescuers," Kim Woodard, executive producer on National Geographic's new weekly series, Rescue Ink Unleashed, tells Paw Nation. "They defy stereotypes, which we found very appealing."
A camera crew from National Geographic trailed the guys of Rescue Ink for seven months, capturing footage of the men confronting animal abusers and coaxing pet owners who couldn't properly care for their animals to surrender the pets to Rescue Ink -- often in the most crime-ridden areas of New York City.
Sometimes, it's not just animals they help. "We heard about an elderly lady who wasn't feeding her cats," Big Ant remembers. "We went to her house and saw her dog and cat bowls were full, but we opened the refrigerator and cupboards – by accident – and there was nothing in there. Her animals were eating, but all she had eaten was cereal. We all put our hands in our pockets and went shopping and got her food. That's what we do."
Rescue Ink is funded purely out of money from the men's own pockets and some donations. The guys laugh about the time their van took a "vacation," (i.e., broke down on the way back from Pennsylvania) leaving them stranded. On weekends, the men attend animal events and cat shows to raise awareness about animal cruelty. "Usually, women drag their husbands and boyfriends to these things, and now their husbands and boyfriends are coming over to tell us about a kitty that's being neglected," says Big Ant. "And it's okay to care and help animals. You can still be cool and help animals."
"We're trying to be role models," G tells Paw Nation. Eric concurs. "You can be a tough guy and still do the right thing," he says.
Rescue Ink has rescued countless animals since its inception, but their mission is not about numbers. "It's not how many animals we've rescued," says Joe. "It's how many more need to be rescued."
Rescue Ink Unleashed premieres Friday, September 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic channel.
Watch a preview of the show, below.
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Love it, great story, you see so many neglected, abused, wonderful that these guys care !
I have a pom and pekignese, the pom is a rescue, sweetest dog ever !
Thank you for what you are doing .
Lori in NC
what kind of dog is joe holding?
I think this is a wonderful story. I cry when I hear horrible things happen to our animal friends or dead dogs on the street. My husband think I am silly. Almost every dog except the last one I have was a rescue dog, and they know they were special enough to be brought home because they love like nothing else. My last dog Lexie was a very special dog, came from a shelter. We are in the process of going to the shelter in OK. to find another dog. I wish people would be responsible to spade and neuter their animals. Those guys are awesome they look ( don't judge a book by it's cover) like they could care less about the wrongs of the world, but my dad rode a Harley, and their club raised all kinds of money in Jersey for different things. Keep it up guys.\, you are tattoed angels :).
what a great thing these men are doing. a lot of times guys think its cool to be cruel to an animal. its time for there to be good role models for our kids. GO GETTEM GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YALL!!!!!!!!!!!denise in tx.
These guys are heroes to me. REAL men LOVE cats. And they HELP cats.
God bless you all. You are doing a wonderful job. I wish one day you can show the people in the Bay Area this wonderful mission and form a group here to do the same. I am an animal lover and I know humans are very cruel to this loving creatures that have the same right to live and be treated with love and respect. From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU FOR BEEN THERE FOR THEM. GOD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS
A "Bravo" and standing ovation to Rescue Ink!
i am really sad that i missed the premiere of this show but i definately will be watching next week!
keep up the good work and i just wanna say these guys are living my dream
Thank God for real men who stand up for those who
can not speak for themsleves.Unlike Peta who would
rather all animals be dead than be pets!There are so
many stories about Peta murdering adpotable animals.
One story I saw on news were this man & woman who
worked for Peta.Were going to Animals hosptails &
sheathers.Then murdering them.One of the Vets told
how they came into their office.Then said they would give
this cat & kittens to someone.They were found dead later.
These men are truly American heroes! I have a cock-a-poo that was rescued from a puppy mill when she was 10 weeks old, and she's the sweetest thing in the world. God bless them for what they do, I wish I could help them, and be a part of such a wonderful thing. May they always have good things happen to them.
What happened to Mikey Tattoo? Why did Nat Geo fire him before filming? Why are the actors always changing every so often?
Can someone show me a tax returnfrom this non-profit group? Nat Geo please find an actor that knows about animals! Look up Mike Arotsky on IMDB he was on Oz for a few years and was the voice and founder of Rescue Ink. Nat Geo please show us a real rescue maybe that's why they fired Mike Arotsky?
I Love you guys. You're the best of the best, and have many wonderful things in store for you. I can only dream about being a part of what you do. Animals have always been the beauty and love in my life and will always be. It is so great to know that there are real people like you who show they care (for these creatures who only want us to love them) every day.
i love u guys & everything u do.
i hate people who think abusein an animal is ok. i wish everyone who hit, kicked..and made an animal cry out in pain...should suffer a slow miserable death.....but thats just me :)
i love u guys & come down to miami, fl sometime :)
god bless u and all our animal friends
xoxox
juli
I live with a big tough macho guy who loves animals also. He even worries about our wild birds. I know he would join this group if we lived there. We have 4 rescues-2 dogs and 2 cats-that he spoils rotten. So thankfully there are tough guys with big hearts!! I think more people will take notice of the problem now. Keep up the great work!! I'll be writing about this on my 2 animal blogs!!